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While stationed on Long Island to conduct secret war research for the U.S. government during World War II, O. Winston Link started snapping photographs of the Long Island Railroad tracks behind his lab. Eager to capture large-scale railroad pictures at night, he built his own customized flash equipment. After the war, Link harnessed that creative curiosity by spending five years photographing the Norfolk and Western Railway, the last large steam-powered American railroad. From his 20 trips to the railway's tracks in four states, Link collected 2,400 pictures.
His work didn't garner attention until the 1980s, when he published his first collection of railroad photos in the lauded book Steam, Steel & Stars. The West Virginia Historical Society continues to preserve his legacy with the O. Winston Link Museum, which showcases Link's Norfolk and Western project while filling in its historical context. Throughout seven galleries, patrons hear the sounds of bustling locomotive engines, adjust the lighting of an interactive diorama's photograph, and ogle Link's original photographic equipment, including flashbulbs, power boxes, and super power boxes. The museum underscores its edifying galleries with a plentitude of tours, workshops, and ongoing photography programs.

As a center for the visual arts, we encourage a free exchange between the making of art, the display of art and the interpretation of art. Our programs endeavor to explore creativity from inspiration to presentation with the goal of engaging and intriguing our audiences.

In the 1850s, the Norfolk & Western Railway made its way to Big Lick, Virginia, transforming the sleepy town into a locomotive hub of the south. The Virginia Museum of Transportation walks visitors through this industrial change with its historic steam and diesel engines, cabooses, model trains, and rail collection, which features more than 50 pieces of rolling stock, including some of the most advanced Roanoke-made steam engines ever built in the Norfolk & Western Class J-611 and Class A-1218. Railway exhibits recount the exploits of the industry’s most renowned names and provide an opportunity for visitors to hop aboard an actual diesel locomotive and complain loudly about the lack of complimentary peanuts. Additional engine-powered attractions include a century’s worth of automobiles and the recently reopened Wings Over Virginia Aviation Gallery collection.

The Historic Smithfield Plantation invites visitors to step back into 1774. The house has sheltered the Preston family through the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, and now stands as a document of the past with a home and plantation grounds.

The Avoca Museum & Historical Society was once the site of the Revolutionary-era home of Colonel Charles Lynch and the centerpiece of a sprawling plantation. Today, it houses native artifacts and Civil War memorabilia curated to preserve local history.
Size: 54 acres of land, including the sprawling Victorian house
Eye Catcher: the main house, an American Queen Anne?style home built in 1901 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places; the interior has been lovingly restored to appear as it did in its heyday
Permanent Exhibits: the replica of the 1880 cabin that originally stood on the site, including a rope bed and stone fireplace
Don't Miss: the family graveyard?as well as a graveyard for the plantation's slaves?stand as a reminder of the land's history and provide some information about what African American life was like before the Civil War
Pro Tip: the Avoca Museum is a popular wedding venue, so check the website's homepage or call ahead to make sure it's not closed for a private event

The Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library serves as a depository for the history of the region. The museum gathers artifacts and stories from the past, along with genealogical data, into one place where community members can explore their ancestors' origins. Local historians deliver lectures at the museum's regular events, and genealogy classes share tips on how students can research their ancestry both in-person and online.